i was shopping for coilovers.
should i get the jic flta1 or the tein ss, theyre bothte same price,
but the jic comes witht the camber plates. i thought the jic's
were about $1700, but i found them for $1100. does that sound right?

 

There are two different types of JIC's, 10 & 15 way adjustable.

Andrei

 

the 1a's and the 2a's, are the 1a's good, or should i get the tiens instead, i had my mind set on the teins forever, but they dont have the camber adjustment, do u think ill need/use that at all?

 

If you have your mind set on the Teins, then get the Teins. Personally, ill be going with the JIC FLT-A2's. Reason being? well more people have experience with them & I know they work well.

 

the a2's are just too much for me, ive cut down how much i eat for the last six months to be able to afford coilovers, i think ill get the ss, whenive got enough, if all goes as planend theyll be on my car at the beginning of august, i can twait, theses maxspeeds on stockers, arent gonna cut it anymore

 

I would get A1's if I were you .

Andrei

 

better ride, better quality, easier install?

 

I wish i had links to all the old posts about the exact subject. It's been discussed many, many times.

JIC is the only way to go. A-1 or A-2 is up to your budget, intended use, or just what you want.

A-1:
Twintube damper with 5 dampening settings
Front upper pillow ball mounts
Front camber plates
Full suspension travel at any height setting

A-2:
Monotube inverted damper with 15 dampening settings
Front upper pillow ball mounts
Front camber plates
Full suspension travel at any height setting

Tein SS:
Twintube damper with 16 dampening settings
Must use OEM / stock upper mounts....no pillow ball mounts or camber plates
Ride height is adjusted at the spring perch...this reduces suspension travel and affects the spring rates the lower you go.

 

i love me some jic's...

 

jic's it is, thanks for all the help. my car will be how i always imagined it at the end of the summer, i cant wait.

 

Damn, I didnt know that the with the A1's give you full suspention travel as well as the A2's. Thanks for that info MaxSE03. You just made up my mind for me as well.

Mike

 

Good choise and congrats. When you get them istalled, make sure to post some pics .

Andrei

 

I thought the monotube design enables the car to keep full suspension travel, hence the A2's are the only one that allows that

 

That is the main thing that im concerned about. I want full suspension travel & be able to raise/lower the ride with some dampening control. If I can get that with the A1's then id rather go with the A1 and save my $. I dont plan on going to the track, my ride is just a cruiser so I dont really care about extreme handling.

 

Rob Van Dam, which JIC's do you have?

 

The A1's are going to be hard to find now...they arent shipping any more out for like 2 months

 

how low does the jic's a1 lower the car. I heard between 0-4 inches, is this correct?

 

more like .75 to 4 inches

 

ive lowered my JIC's so much, that the back of hte car sat completely on the floor.

 

Pillow ball mounts are the way to go, gotta have full suspension travel. My jic a2's are very comfortable.

 

No, full suspension travel comes from the ride height being adjusted at the lower bracket.

 

The A-1's will do everything you listed above. It is a great coilover for the price.

 

I got them, and i love em!

 

Here's a history of my email conversations with Tein, regarding the whole suspension travel issue.

IMO, unless you're going to be laying your car down on the ground by lowering it all the way down, your suspension should be fine.

In fact, anyone that uses lowering springs, eibachs, tein springs, H&R, dropzone, etc., has already lost some suspension travel - so going from just springs to the Tein coilovers shouldn't be any change at all.

The reason I'm planning on getting the Teins, is because I love the thought of being able to adjust my suspension settings from within the car, while I'm driving (with Tein's EDFC unit).

As for the pillowball mounts and camber adjustment, unless you have the stillen camber adjusters, or have JIC's , you have been driving without them already...

thoughts?


-----Original Message-----
From: TEIN USA INC
To: Roy
Cc: TEIN, Sales
Sent: 6/21/2004 7:38 PM
Subject: Re: coilover question

Roy, If you were to leave the Dampers at our recommended settings there would be plenty of piston travel. Now if you were to lower you car below our recommendations it all depends on how low you go. No matter what shock you buy it is always possible to bottom it out. If you have anymore questions feel free to contact us.

Best regards, Sales

Staff @ TEIN USA INC.
9798 Firestone Blvd.
Downey, CA 90241
Phone: (562)861-9161
Fax: (562)861-9171
www.tein.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Roy"
To: "'TEIN USA INC '" <Sales@tein.com>
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 12:35 PM
Subject: RE: coilover question

Thanks for all the information, however you didn't answer my question about whether or not the suspension travel is retained or lost using your coilover.

I'm worried about lowering the car, using the Tein coilovers, and then having the suspension bottom out because there isn't enough travel left in the strut.

Roy

-----Original Message-----
From: TEIN USA INC
To: Roy
Cc: TEIN, Sales
Sent: 6/21/2004 3:05 PM
Subject: Re: coilover question

Roy, Hello and thank you for your interest TEIN High Performance Suspensions. When we perform the R&D testing, we measure the wheel travel, perform a corner balance on all four corners to get the true weight of a stock vehicle, and determine what kind of suspension design the vehicle has (ex. double wish bone, multilink suspension, or a true strut style suspension). When the prototype damper in produced, we install it on the vehicle to test proper fitment, insure it has the enough suspension travel, damping force and has the right spring rates. The vehicle is then driven on multiple test drives to ensure proper ride comfort and performance. When the R&D department feel's they have designed a coilover kit with enough suspension travel, damping force and has the right spring rates without sacrificing that much ride quality, Tein Japan will then take this data and start mass producing the coilover kit. The reason why we do the R&D testing this way is to insure the best performance in a coilover kit. One piece of important information that most consumers forget is the damping force of the shock. We produce the springs to match the shocks to ensure proper spring control. TEIN takes a lot of pride and years of experience in all of the products we manufacture. If you have any other questions feel free to contact us.

Best regards, Sales

Staff @ TEIN USA INC.
9798 Firestone Blvd.
Downey, CA 90241
Phone: (562)861-9161
Fax: (562)861-9171
www.tein.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Roy"
To: <sales@tein.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2004 8:00 PM
Subject: coilover question

I've got a 2002 Nissan Maxima (A33) and I was thinking about getting the SS Coilovers for it.

My question is whether or not the full suspension travel is retained when using the Tein SS Coilovers?

I wouldn't want my suspension to bottom out because the suspension travel is reduced.

thanks.

roy

 

That is a nice option but in all reality, how often are you going to do that? How much is that setup? I plan on driving slammed in the summer, and come winter, raise the car up 2 or 3" . I guess if i *could* raise and lower the car from the inside i *might* play with it here and there. IMO, I dont think its worth it.

 

I too wanted the TEINs for the EDFC unit, however the JICs will have less, if any, loss of suspension travel compared to the TEINs. On our cars the travel is already scarce, so TEIN would have to have super stiff spring rates and dampers to prevent bottoming out even at "recommended settings". To me, that means ride quality will be harsher then the JICs.

You should find out what TEIN spring rates and spring lengths are compared to the 7"(IIRC) JICs 9K/6K springs.

 

The EDFC controls damping, not height... So I'll be able to soften up the ride or make it ride harder, depending on conditions... soft for cruising the freeways, hard for taking the twisties...

 

From Tein's site: http://www.tein.com/ti/p20.html

it looks like the fronts are 7K and rears are 6K (390 lbs/340 lbs)

 

the edfc unit only controls the dampening these arent air bags or hydros...no switches here

 

JIC should be it!

 

OK so me thats TOTALLY useless. if i am on a road course i will set me JICS for stiff..i really cant see my self on the street "hey this road looks bumpy, let me change it to soft..."

TEIN EDFC is a waste....but..its your coin. good luck

 

it sure beats jacking up your car and taking off the wheel on four sides. It also allows instant suspension tuning with a touch of a button.

Also, with the three memory settings a driver can go from highway to city pot-holed streets to track

 

hhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

sounds GREAT. USELESS to 90% of the peeps on here.

 

yep, just like BBK's, turbos, SC's, and half of what could make our cars profitable for companies to make stuff for us.

 

haha..what are you talking about?? You dont have to remove the wheels to adjust the damepening on the jic's...for my A1's, the adjustment ***** are at the top of the coilovers on all 4 wheels. I have had the setting on 2 for the last month or so and it rides VERY smooth knowing how LOW i am. I do scrape every now and then but who cares, no one can see it...lol

 

A1's...

 

not sure whats so funny, but I guess I was mistaken. I'm used to seeing members with A2's adjusting their suspension, must have been adjusting the height.

 

I would suggest getting the A2's, much better IMO. The A2 dampening control on the front is on the bottom of the coilover, so unless you have really small hands you have to jack up the car to adjust the dampening on the front. The rear is on the top.

Email for install write up.

 

rob i put my a1's on this past weekend ;o